When the Pittsburgh Steelers inked Patrick Queen to a three-year, $41 million contract during the 2024 offseason, it was with the intention of finding stability and competent play at the linebacker position (something this team lacked since Ryan Shazier's career-ending spinal injury in 2017). Queen was a former Bowler and first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens.
But the Steelers are learning that they can't rely on reputation alone.
Before even signing with Pittsburgh, the warning signs were flashing with Queen. The ex-Ravens linebacker played his best football after handing over the 'green dot' to All-Pro Roquan Smith, but Queen still did his best work coming downhill.
Since inking a massive contract in free agency that made him among the top-10 highest-paid linebackers in the NFL, Queen has underwhelmed. The flashes have been there; he's made a handful of impressive plays from the backfield and showed off his impressive closing speed. Unfortunately, the positive plays were overshadowed by all of the negative.
Throughout the 2025 season—his second in Pittsburgh—Queen has displayed routine coverage lapses that resulted in big plays over the middle of the field, while the missed tackles have been beyond frustrating. Meanwhile, Queen's poor performances have been reflected in his underwhelming PFF grade and his lack of splash play production on the stat sheet.
Now it's time to have a painful conversation about his future with the Steelers.
Patrick Queen should be an easy cap casualty for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2026 offseason
At just 26 years old, Queen is in the prime of his NFL career, and the veteran linebacker still has youth on his side. The former LSU product was just 20 years old entering the 2020 NFL Draft, and he doesn't even turn 27 until August.
However, after watching Queen play for two teams (typically known for their defenses) over the past six years, not much has changed. The athletic linebacker is still making rookie mistakes when it comes to coverage lapses, missed tackles, and poor angles. And if he hasn't shown much improvement by now, it's hard to suspect he ever will.
Following the 2025 postseason, the Steelers will have a decision to make on Queen's contract... and it should be the easiest one they make all year. Patrick Queen needs to go.
With a $3.86 million prorated signing bonus, and his $2.5 million roster bonus kicks in, Queen is on the books to have a $17.19 million cap number for the 2026 season—the final year of his contract. This is estimated to account for roughly 5.7 percent of the Steelers' total cap space next year, per Over the Cap.
With $10.83 million set to come his way in game checks next year, this is obviously too much money to dish out to a struggling linebacker who hasn't been able to take his play to the next level consistently. While Mike Tomlin has spoken highly of Queen during the 2025 season amidst his struggles, the front office should step in to make the easy call with his release.
Moving on from Queen during the 2026 offseason would save the Steelers $13.33 million in salary cap space. With the money saved, Pittsburgh could invest back into another linebacker to fill the void that could be left by Queen's departure or put it toward another position (cornerback, offensive line, wide receiver, etc.) that could help give their roster a boost.
The Pittsburgh Steelers need to find a long-term option to pair with Payton Wilson at the linebacker position, but considering Patrick Queen's lofty cap number in 2026, it shouldn't be him. Based on the way Queen has played in his first two seasons with the Steelers, the team shouldn't have trouble finding a replacement.